Ranji Trophy 2018-19: Double-tons for Uttarakhand’s Vineet Saxena, Rajat Bhatia

Uttarakhand takes the first innings lead in its contest against Meghalaya; Manipur, Bihar post wins.

File Photo: Rajat Bhatia continued his good form with the bat for Uttarakhand.

Vineet Saxena and Rajat Bhatia hammered double-centuries to help Uttarakhand take the crucial first-innings lead against Meghalaya in a Group ‘D’ Ranji Trophy contest in Dehradun on Saturday. At stumps on Day Three, Bhatia was batting on 212, and Saxena on 202; Uttarkhand led by 180 runs, at 491 for 4. Meghalaya had scored 311 in the first innings.

Manipur beats Nagaland

In Dimapur, captain Yashpal Singh bagged a five-wicket haul to complement debutant Mayank Raghav’s double-century, as Manipur defeated host Nagaland by seven wickets. Yashpal, a medium-pacer, bagged 5 for 46, running through the tail to bundle Nagaland out for 334. Chasing 125, Manipur’s opener Lakhan Rawat struck 55, while Yashpal remained unbeaten on 35 to seal the win with a day to spare.

File Photo: Yashpal Singh scored 35 after taking five wickets, to lead Manipur to win.

 

Nagaland had shown some resistance in the second innings. K. B. Pawan scored 131 and Arbar Kazi scored 90; the duo added 186 runs for the fifth wicket.

Innings win for Bihar

At the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna, left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman returned with a match haul of 11 wickets as Bihar secured an innings-and-317-run victory over Arunachal Pradesh to log seven points. Ashutosh claimed 7 for 21 to add to his 4 for 26 in his first innings, for his second 10-wicket match haul, as Arunchal Pradesh folded for 135 in the second innings.

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Bihar had declared its first innings for a mammoth 536 for 5 after bundling out Arunachal for 84 on Day Two. Indrajit Kumar, who scored 222 off 266 balls, was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match.

• At Dehradun: Uttarakhand 491 for 4 (Rajat Bhatia 212 n.o., Vineet Saxena 202 n.o.) leadsMeghalaya 311 by 180 runs.
• At Dimapur: Nagaland 126 and 334 (K. B. Pawan 131, Arbar Kazi 90, Rongsen Jonathan 59, Yashpal Singh 5 for 46) lost to Manipur 336 and 128 for 3 (Lakhan Rawat 55, Yashpal Singh 35 n.o.) by seven wickets.Points: Manipur 6, Nagaland 0.
• At Patna: Arunachal Pradesh 84 and 135 (Samarth Seth 58, Ashutosh Aman 7 for 14) lost to Bihar 536 for 5 dec. by an innings and 317 runs.Points: Bihar 7, Arunachal Pradesh 0.
• At Wayanad: Puducherry 647 for 8 dec. leads Sikkim 247 (Milind Kumar 96, Bipul Sharma 47, Pankaj Singh 3 for 21, D. Rohit 3 for 67) and 105 for 3 (f/o) (Ashish Thapa 52) by 295 runs.